


A Mermaid's Kiss

by Lunatical



Category: The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Hopeful Ending, Inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, Love at First Sight, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Pirate!Bucky, Pirate!Steve, Pre-Relationship, Worldbuilding, merman!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 01:11:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatical/pseuds/Lunatical
Summary: "Some merpeople enjoyed killing humans, seeing it as a sport, or as vengeance against the sailors and pirates who often slayed their kind, but Tony had never been one of them. He found the humans fascinating, and he was drawn to them in the same way he was drawn to machines, old magic, and weird creations: they were something to discover, to learn, to explore… but not destroy. They were precious in their mystery."***There had been rumors of a sunken pirate ship, not too far away from Tony's nest, and he'd headed out to investigate. He was expecting to find some cool trinkets, or maybe even a treasure -- shipwrecks were always full of human-made stuff, and Tony liked to collect and study it.What he ended up finding, though, was a bit bigger than a couple of cute toys. Seriously, what was Tony going to do with two shipwrecked sailors?(For the Stuckony server Remix event: a Merman!Tony AU)





	A Mermaid's Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [32\. Pebble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18835969) by [LadyUkkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyUkkey/pseuds/LadyUkkey), [NekoTiara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoTiara/pseuds/NekoTiara). 

Steve and Bucky listened in stoic silence as their commanding officer berated them for the failed mission, screaming profanities at the top of his lungs with little care of the crew’s increasing unrest.

Steve could tell that Bucky was reaching the end of his patience, too, clenching his hands and taking deep, controlled breaths to stop himself from putting his fist through the Commodore’s face. To be honest, Steve wasn’t faring much better himself.

Still, they were soldiers in the Royal Navy, and having officers treat them like dirt was par for the course on any normal day on the job.

Struggling to keep his cool, on the other hand, was a rare occurrence.

Steve kept quiet until he felt Bucky shift next to him, clearly getting ready to do something stupid like openly _disagree_ with their superior officer in front of dozens of witnesses, so he decided to act before Bucky could make a fool of himself and get kicked out of the Navy in the process.

“Sir,” he started, interrupting the man mid-rant. “There were captive slaves on that ship. I don’t care what flag they were flying; they were keeping men, animals and sentient being in crowded cages. We fight for freedom, and frankly, if I were to find that same ship today, I would rescue every captive again, with no regrets.”

“Silence!” the man bellowed, pure outrage written everywhere on his body. He was breathing heavily, and his face had turned an interesting shade of purple – Steve didn’t think he’d ever seen a man that angry, but then again, Bucky usually stopped him _before_ he did something as stupid as mutinying. The Commodore continued, “You are part of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy! You fight for her, not for whatever nonsensical ideals you have in your tiny, stupid head! The ship you attacked was part of our flock, and the slaves aboard it were captives of the Royal Army. Do you even know how much money your little stunt has cost us?”

“I don’t, Sir, and I frankly don’t care.”

Steve could feel the eyes of his crew members trained on him. He’d been the Captain of this ship for a little over a year, and most of his crewmates admired and respected him. They’d all followed him when he’d given the order to attack the allied ship and free the slaves, and he knew that he’d have their loyalty if he were to leave.

Turning towards Bucky, the Commodore took a dangerous step closer. “And what do you have to say to that, Sergeant? Does the crew agree with your Captain? Should I put _all_ of you in the gallows?”

Bucky snorted, unimpressed. “Every one of our members could kill you in a heartbeat, old man,” he replied. Then, he unsheathed his sword, grinning dangerously. “We don’t trade in lives, mate.”

Steve had to admit that betraying his country and becoming a pirate hadn’t been his plan when he’d joined the Navy… but he’d found a good crew to stand behind him, and he still had his morals, and Bucky was there to lead alongside him, Steve’s first mate in everything in life. Truthfully, things didn’t turn out so bad, after all.

Of course, that was before they were caught in a sea storm, before their ship sank and took the rest of their crew with it, and before he and Bucky found themselves stranded on a tiny rowboat, floating in the middle of the sea.

***

Tony could hear the rumbling of the sky, far enough away for the clouds to still be barely visible on the horizon, but close enough that he could tell the storm would soon hit this part of the ocean. He swam up to the surface, squinting against the mist to see where the storm was coming from.

He’d hoped to get a few more hours outside to explore, but it seemed like his time in the upper waters would be cut short.

With a sigh, he submerged himself again, reaching a more comfortable depth with a couple of strokes and dejectedly heading towards his cave. There had been rumors of a recently sunken ship not far away from his nesting place, and he’d headed out in the hopes of collecting some cool trinkets, but he hadn’t managed to find anything worthwhile. It was a pity his adventure had been interrupted, but he’d have more time to go exploring again tomorrow, after the storm had passed.

Tony was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed the familiar shape of a boat, floating calmly above the waters just at the edge of his vision. He immediately raced towards it, excited to finally find a sign of human passage.

Moving against the currents, he broke the water just far enough away not to be seen, squinting through the mist to see whether the lonely dinghy was empty or not. There were two figures barely visible on the small boat, leaning against its sides.

Tony felt worry creep up in his chest. Were the two humans sleeping? Were they dead?

Some merpeople enjoyed killing humans, seeing it as a sport, or as vengeance against the sailors and pirates who often slayed their kind, but Tony had never been one of them. He found the humans fascinating, and he was drawn to them in the same way he was drawn to machines, old magic, and weird creations: they were something to discover, to learn, to explore… but not destroy. They were precious in their mystery.

These two humans clearly didn’t know a storm was coming – they wouldn’t be sleeping, otherwise – and they were too far away from shore to reach it before the rain started to fall in earnest.

There was a ripple in the water, barely strong enough to be felt. Tony had been living in the sea his whole life; he could recognize the first signs of a raging, oncoming storm.

Making up his mind, he sunk beneath the surface again, swimming until he was circling the small boat. If his calculations were correct, they were close enough to his nesting cave that he could manage to drag one human at a time there before they drowned. It would be difficult, though; the two humans were unlikely to trust or understand him, and he had no time to explain. Using his powers would be dangerous, but he couldn’t think of another way.

Taking a deep breath, he reached up and grabbed the edge of the boat, hoisting himself upward and out of the water just enough to rest his arms on the wood and blink up at the humans.

One of them was awake – a dark-haired man, who had a rugged look befitting of a pirate – and he was staring at Tony with a mixture of awe and shock.

“Hello, there,” the man breathed, and Tony smiled, reaching for the energy coursing in his veins, trying to channel his power.

He hadn’t used his charm in decades, not since he was barely a juvenile who couldn’t contain his gifts. He slowly lowered his eyelids, trying to entice the man to come closer, and purred softly. Just enough noise to enchant the human with his voice, but not enough to make him lose his reason.

The trick seemed to work. The man came closer, crawling towards Tony, and Tony kept smiling at him encouragingly, slowly sinking lower into the water until the man was forced to lean over the edge of the boat, desperately trying to touch…

Tony grabbed his collar and dragged him down in a sudden, strong pull, forcing the man out of the boat. As soon as they were submerged, Tony placed his lips on the sailor’s, gifting him with a mermaid’s kiss and making him fall unconscious before dragging him down and down, deep into the ocean and towards the safety of his cave.

Soon enough, he was alone and out in the open again, racing back towards the boat. The water was even more agitated now, the sea growing rougher as the storm started to close in. He circled the boat a couple of times, unsure of how to approach the second man who was now likely awake. Awake, and probably pissed.

Gathering his courage, he broke the water again, coming face to face with a pair of thunderous blue eyes.

“What the fuck have you done with Bucky?” the man growled, stepping closer to Tony.

Tony hummed at him in what he hoped was a comforting sound. He couldn’t speak human languages in this form, even though he understood them. Vocal cords that could simulate human speech were a gift few merpeople possessed, and those who did were usually the ones who hunted humans for fun, singing and luring them into jumping to their death.

He purred quietly, turning on his charm to make the man relax, but it just seemed to backfire on Tony. The man sat back down, but didn’t come any closer to the edges of the boat. Tony wouldn’t be able to pull him down if he stayed that far away, but the man was too angry for Tony’s powers to have a stronger effect on him.

The storm was coming closer. He didn’t have much time left. He could leave this man to drown in order to make sure the other was ok, but the thought made him feel guiltier than he liked to admit.

With a frustrated grunt, he jumped underwater again, hitting the sides of the boat hard enough to make it rock. He could hear the man shouting, but he ignored him; it wasn’t his fault the human was being too stubborn for Tony’s powers to work.

Tony kept circling the boat, hitting its sides until it tilted enough that, with a strong slap of his fin, he managed to tip it over, sending the man splashing into the water.

Tony was on him before he could get his bearings, pulling him down and away from the surface and twisting in front of him to kiss him, but as soon as he got close enough the man recoiled, and Tony screamed as he felt something sharp tear its way through his scales. He gasped in pain, choking when the water became muddy with his blood, and almost allowed the man to slip out of his grasp. With extreme effort, he bit down on the pain, grabbing the man’s face and smashing their lips together. He waited until he felt the man’s body go limp before moving back, blinking hard to clear his vision from the bloodied water.

As soon as he could see again, Tony started to drag the man towards his cave, wincing when every stroke of his tail sent pain stabbing through his body. He just hoped that the scent of blood didn’t attract any feral mer-sharks. The last thing he needed was a fight when he was hurt and carrying a frail human.

_Frail, my ass_, he thought bitterly, glaring at the man with every twinge of pain he felt.

And if he didn’t have as much care in transporting this human as he had with the other, well, no one was there to see it anyway.

***

Bucky woke with a gasp, coughing painfully as he sat up and tried to get his bearings.

He was shivering like a leaf, drenched from head to toe and freezing to his bones. A soft chirping noise caught his attention, making him scramble to his feet just as a familiar head – the merman who had grabbed him – popped out of the water. Bucky felt his rising anger die down when the merman swam closer, hefting another figure out of the water.

Bucky’s heart skipped a beat when he realized the unconscious form was Steve, and he immediately hurried towards them. “What did you do?” he hissed, glaring at the merman.

The merman clicked his tongue at him, frowning, before rolling Steve onto his back and smacking him on the chest. He’d barely moved back when Steve lurched up, gasping and hacking water out of his lungs. Bucky was there in an instant, rubbing his back comfortingly.

“You’re okay, Stevie. Take a deep breath, c’mon.”

Steve inhaled shakily, coughing a bit more before seemingly settling down, all while the merman kept watching them with laser-like focus. As soon as he made sure that Steve was okay, the merman swam away, towards a rock just on the edge of the cave. His movements were sloppy, much slower than they’d been when he’d pulled Bucky out of the boat. Bucky squinted at him, trying to understand why.

The reason became obvious when the merman dragged himself onto the rock, hissing as his shaking arms hefted his lower body out of the water. There was a deep gash on the front of his tail, steadily pouring blood into the water and down his scales, muddying their vibrant red and gold color into something duller and sicklier.

Steve followed Bucky’s gaze, glaring at the creature. As soon as the merman caught them looking at him, he started to hiss, baring his fangs and growling angrily.

Bucky’s eyes widened. “Steve, what the fuck did you do to piss him off so much?”

“He’s the one who tried to drown us, I just tried to fight back!” Steve replied, bewildered. Then, when Bucky rolled his eyes, he amended, “I might have nicked him with my knife.”

“_Nicked him_, he says. Look at how much he’s bleeding!”

The merman clicked his tongue and turned around to rummage behind the rock. He reemerged with a victorious sound, holding a big seashell that seemed to be full of stuff. With practiced ease, the merman took out a fish hook and some fishing line, and quickly wove the line inside the hook.

Bucky barely managed to say, “Wait, don’t,” before the merman plunged the hook inside his scales. Bucky rushed forwards, trying to stop him. “Don’t do that! Let me-”

The merman growled at him, leaning away and glaring until Bucky raised his hands and stepped back. The creature turned away from him and quickly stitched up his wound, hissing from the pain and gritting his fangs with a grimace.

As soon as he was done, he threw the hook back inside the seashell, turning around to look for something else. He seemed to find it next to Bucky’s feet, and pointed at it urgently.

Bucky looked down, noticing a perfectly round pebble lying on the sand. He bent down to pick it up. “This?”

The merman nodded, thrusting his hands out towards him, so Bucky walked closer and gingerly handed him the pebble. The merman grabbed the smooth rock, turning it in his hands a couple of times before closing his palms around it with a frown of concentration on his face.

When he opened his hands again, the pebble was sizzling, and had turned a bright red color. The merman seemed satisfied, carefully grabbing the rock and placing it on a smaller wound, next to the one he stitched up. The gash began to cauterize as the sizzling rock was dragged across it, searing it and leaving a trail of bright pink skin behind.

The merman kept hissing in pain all the while, and Bucky had to stop himself from slapping his hands away to end his discomfort. He had no idea why, but the thought of the merman being in pain filled him with such despair he could barely breathe.

Steve walked up to him, peering at the merman from a few steps behind Bucky. “That’s a neat trick.”

The merman huffed, throwing the rock into the water and watching as the heat dissipated in a cloud of bubbles. Bucky couldn’t take his eyes away from him, feeling almost inexplicably drawn to the creature.

The merman seemed to notice, humming at him questioningly, and Bucky couldn’t help the smile that stretched his lips. “I’m sorry, doll, I can’t understand you.”

Ignoring Steve’s spluttered, “_Doll?”_, he walked closer to the merman, unable to look away. Understanding crossed the merman’s face, and he smiled coyly, looking up at Bucky through hooded eyes. He jumped back into the water, crooking his finger and beckoning Bucky to come closer, and that seemed like a great idea, really, Bucky was just going to follow him in and then— 

Bucky was just about to reach the water when the merman stopped, bared his fangs, and screeched out a sharp, high-pitched whine that made Bucky fall to his knees. The noise stopped after a few seconds, but it left Bucky reeling.

He blinked, trying to clear his blurry vision and stop the ringing in his head. “What… what was that?” he asked, confused. His head felt lighter, as if a haze had just been lifted from his brain, and his thoughts were suddenly clearer than they’d been before. “Why was I…”

He trailed off, turning towards the merman when he realized what had happened. The merman was staring at him with a curious tilt to his head, looking almost fascinated by Bucky.

“Did you put a spell on me?”

The merman nodded, a chagrined expression on his face, and whistled softly at him.

“You charmed him?” Steve hissed from behind him. Then, turning to Bucky, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just a bit disoriented. I feel fine now.”

Steve placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He frowned at the merman. “What do you want with us? Are you going to keep us captive here? Are you going to kill us? Eat us?”

The merman growled at that, glaring at Steve in disdain before turning his back on them and disappearing beneath the water.

“Great job, buddy,” Bucky sighed, letting himself fall back until he was sprawled on the sand. “You know that man-eating mermaids are a myth, right? If he really wanted to kill us, he’d have done it already.”

Steve sighed. “Yeah, but still. I don’t understand how you can be so calm in this situation,” Steve huffed, kicking him lightly in the shin. Bucky cracked one eye open to squint at him.

“I ain’t calm, but there’s fuck-all we can do about it now. Sit down and stop pacing, you’re making me nervous.”

Steve sighed again, but did as asked and sat on the sand. The ceiling was barely high enough for him to stand up, and it was making him claustrophobic.

“You’re a jerk,” he finally said, and smiled when Bucky punched his shoulder.

***

Tony grumbled to himself as he raced towards the outer reef, annoyed at the humans and at himself for saving them. He clenched his fist tighter around his spear.

_Stupid humans_, he thought viciously, _I go through the trouble of saving their sorry asses, and what do I get in return? A knife through my scales and a dumb pirate thinking I’m going to eat him! Rhodey is right; I’m always reckless, and one of these days I’m going to end up in a net and sold to a circus. Stupid!_

He didn’t stop grumbling as he hunted some fish, nor as he made his way back to the cave, and not even as he neared the surface of the air bubble above his nest.

He did fall silent when he broke the water’s surface, startling both men and feeling a spark of petty pleasure when they seemed surprised to see him. He swam closer to the shore, carefully pulling himself out of the water just enough to leave his tail submerged. The last thing he needed was drying out and turning into a human while he was surrounded by two men who could easily overpower him in his weaker form.

He clicked his tongue at them invitingly, thrusting his spear towards them. He’d managed to catch four big fish, which would hopefully be enough to feed everyone. When neither of the men moved to grab the food, Tony huffed and took one fish for himself, placing the spear next to them to let them take whatever they wanted. He sniffed at the fish before taking one big bite out of its side, sighing happily when that sated his grumbling stomach.

“We can’t eat them like that.”

The blonde human – his friend had called him Steve, right? – was staring at him with a frown on his face, and Tony tilted his head in confusion. He’d made sure to pick fish that was edible for humans, the kind that always got caught in the fishermen's nets.

“We have to cook it,” Steve continued. “On a fire?”

Tony didn’t know what ‘cook’ meant, but he knew of the mystical invention of fire. He’d never seen it up close, but he’d heard tales from older mermaids, the ones who had lived among the humans. Fire was hot, and dangerous, and it hurt you when you touched it, but it also gave light and warmth and protection.

Tony didn’t have fire, but he could make heat. Maybe that would be enough? He clicked his tongue at him, placing the fish he was eating in Steve’s hands and quickly jumping into the water. If the humans needed to make the whole fish warm, he’d need to find quite a big rock. He scanned the bottom of his cave with careful eyes, finally picking up a slab of polished black stone that was hopefully big enough to lay the fish on top of.

Making his way back up, he emerged with a grin, thrusting his newfound discovery onto the brunet’s lap – Bucky, Steve had called him. Bucky looked at him in confusion.

“This… is a rock.”

Tony nodded, pointing at the fish and then at the rock, wiggling his fingers.

Bucky gasped. “Oh! You can heat this up, can’t you?”

Tony nodded again, grinning. See, this human wasn’t as stupid as the other one! Maybe Steve was just built wrong.

Bucky quickly grabbed a fish, rinsing the sand off of it in the water to his side, and then motioned for Steve to pass him the knife. Steve obliged, and Tony watched in fascination as Bucky cut the fish open and took out its entrails, throwing them away. In all honesty, it seemed pretty dumb to waste all that good meat. Maybe humans couldn’t eat it? Tony couldn’t find another explanation.

Once Bucky was done, he passed the knife back to Steve, who then started to cut and clean the other fish. Bucky turned his attention back towards Tony. “So, can you heat this up?”

Tony nodded, reaching for the rock and placing it on the sand. He grabbed its sides, focusing all his heat in his hands, pushing until the stone began to crackle.

“Ok, that’s enough!” Bucky exclaimed, and Tony quickly took his hands away.

Bucky carefully placed the fish on the stone, and it immediately began to smoke and sizzle. Tony recoiled in disgust. The stench of burning flesh was almost overpowering.

“Don’t like that smell, huh?” Steve mused, passing Tony's half eaten fish back to him. He shook his head, scooting away until his nose didn’t feel like it was about to fall off, and silently went back to his own food.

Humans were so weird. Who would want to burn their food before eating it?

“So, I’m assuming Buck was right, and you don’t eat humans?”

Tony squinted at Steve, his tail splashing in annoyance.

“Well, sorry for thinking the worst of you. Bad habit of mine,” he said, sounding honestly apologetic. Tony huffed and gently flicked him with his tail. It was understandable that Steve had been mistrustful, since he hadn’t been charmed like Bucky had, and Tony could forgive him for stabbing him when he’d tried to drag him to the bottom of the sea.

Steve seemed to take his silence for the acceptance that it was, and he smiled brightly at Tony. His teeth looked weird, all flat and useless, but they still made him look endearing. Tony huffed and looked away.

They finished their food in silence, only interrupted by the two sailors arguing over who got the last fish. Tony didn’t need it – he could go hunting again tomorrow morning – but the two humans wouldn’t accept it either. In the end, they split it into thirds: Tony cut the fish like the two men had done, using his claws to tear the belly open and happily slurping up the fish’s innards before passing it back to the humans, who cut it and split it in half before cooking it.

Tony sprawled back in the sand, splashing his tail around the water and up his body, making sure to keep his gills wet.

They sat in silence for a while, until Bucky broke it with, “So, wanna tell us why you brought us here?”

Tony looked up at him, not bothering to move from his sprawled position. He wasn’t sure how to convey, “You were about to die in a storm,” when the two humans couldn’t understand him, so he settled for pointing at the ceiling and making a rumbling noise.

Steve frowned, getting up to walk to the edge of the cave, where a tiny hole in the ceiling allowed some cool breeze to reach Tony’s nest from the outside. He suddenly gasped, “Wait, there’s a storm?”

Tony grinned and nodded, impressed. Maybe Steve wasn’t so stupid after all.

“Did you bring us here to save us, then?”

Tony nodded again, pleased with Steve’s understanding of the situation. He wiggled a bit, submerging himself a stretch deeper.

“Well, thank you for that,” Steve said, somewhat uncomfortable. “And sorry about stabbing you.”

Tony tutted softly, shrugging to show he didn’t really care. Merpeople had tougher skin than humans, and scales grew back quickly. He’d heal soon enough.

“Hey, speaking of which,” Bucky interjected. “What’s the thing you can do with your hands?”

He wiggled his fingers as if to demonstrate what he meant, and Tony snorted. He held out his hands, channeling his powers and heating up his palms.

The two sailors watched in wonder as his skin and scales turned bright red, heating the air around his hands until the warmth could be felt even from a couple steps away, only stopping when Tony’s palms were glowing softly.

“Well… that’s handy, I guess,” Bucky said, bewildered. “Can all merpeople do that?”

Tony shook his head.

“Just you then?”

Tony shrugged, then nodded. He’d never met another merman who had his powers, but then again, merpeople came with a lot of different abilities, and he hadn’t really met many of his own kind. He’d always been a bit of a loner, with only a couple of friends to keep him company; Rhodey and Pepper, mainly, but he barely saw them at all these days.

Steve and Bucky seemed like good friends. Well, maybe more than friends, he mused, watching as Steve pulled a shivering Bucky closer to his side.

Bucky snuggled closer to Steve’s body heat and yawned, cracking his jaw with an awfully loud sound and hiding his face in Steve’s chest.

“God,” he whined, “I’d give my left arm for a bed made of something that’s not sand or gravel.”

Tony cocked his head, frowning at him. He hummed inquisitively, but Bucky shook his head.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m just tired, and cold, and the ground isn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep on. I’ve had worse, though. Steve’s soft enough.”

That made sense, but maybe Tony had a solution. He hummed and pointed at a corner of the cave, swimming towards it and gesturing them to come along.

After a few moments of hesitation, they did, albeit dubiously, climbing over a couple of big rocks separating the shore from another part of the cave. The ceiling was so low they had to walk while crouching to avoid hitting their heads.

Tony waited patiently until they reached the secluded spot, watching them carefully to gauge their reactions. He knew his nest was better than most other merfolks’, but it was also quite… unconventional.

There was a big circle of rocks, hidden carefully from the rest of the cave, which Tony had filled with every soft material he could find and turned into a lovely warm nest. Most of it was filled with dried sponges, but he’d thrown in some other stuff: a sunken ship’s sail, a few pillows, large pieces of fabric. Merpeople usually built their nests underwater, with kelp or rocks or whatever materials they found suitable, and even Tony slept in the cave’s shallow waters most of the time... but he sometimes liked to sleep in his other form, as a human.

If other mers found out, they’d probably think he was crazy.

Bucky and Steve didn’t seem to mind. Quite the opposite, in fact, if the surprised expressions on their faces were of any indication. Bucky laughed and gleefully sunk into the nest, settling down in the middle of the circle and grinning when Steve joined him. The nest was softer than they’d expected, judging by their pleased sighs, and the sponges seemed to soak up all the residual moisture in their clothes and hair, finally letting them feel dry and cozy.

“Oh,” Bucky sighed. “This is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever slept on, _fuck_.”

Steve hummed in agreement, settling in more comfortably under the big sail and cuddling close to Bucky. 

They looked good together, Tony couldn’t help but notice, almost like physical affection was so ingrained in their relationship that they didn’t even notice they were doing it. 

He wished he had that kind of easy companionship with _someone_ in his life; he and Rhodey used to be like that, once, but then his friend had found his mate and left their original nest, and Tony had been left all on his own. He missed it, sometimes, sharing his home with someone else. And, he had to admit, his nest _did_ look particularly inviting when filled by two handsome, fascinating humans.

A sudden idea crossed his mind, and he immediately recoiled from his own thoughts, startling so bad that the water sloshed loudly around him. Steve and Bucky noticed, of course, sending him a couple of worried looks.

“You okay over there?”

Tony bit his lip, frowning. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Rhodey was screaming at him to stop entertaining stupid ideas, but... well, missing his best friend was what had sparked said ideas in the first place, so going against his advice seemed exactly like the best thing for Tony to do.

He still hesitated for a few seconds, fixing a calculating gaze on Steve and Bucky, trying to judge their possible reactions. They seemed like pretty good guys, from what he’d seen. Not the kind of humans who would kill him for no reason if he were to suddenly become defenseless in their presence.

Making up his mind, he nodded and hoisted himself up onto the shore, dragging his body across the sand until his entire tail was out of the water.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Steve exclaimed, frantically sitting up and rushing towards him. “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you go back in the water?”

Bucky was on his feet immediately, running towards him as well. “Jesus, why are you- _what the fuck!_”

He screeched to a halt when Tony let out a low moan, writhing on the sand as his body began to shift. 

The transformation into a human was always uncomfortable, no matter how many times or how often he shifted. His skin felt too dry, and for several, terrible moments he couldn’t breathe, gasping uselessly at the water-free air. The popping and reshaping of his bones seemed to take _hours_ to finish, but Tony knew it really only took a few dozen seconds.

By the end of it, he was a naked, trembling, curled-up mass on the floor. He desperately tried to gasp in some oxygen. Human lungs were horrifically painful for the first handful of breaths, and not having gills always left him reeling with a visceral sense of _wrongness_.

“Jesus Christ,” Steve whispered, sounding slightly disturbed. He quickly ran to Tony, though, kneeling next to him and worriedly looking him over. “Are you okay? What the fuck was that?”

Tony gasped in another painful lungful of air before trying to sit up from his fetal position on the ground. “I’m okay,” he croaked out, still shivering. “The shift is painful, but it goes away quickly.”

Something warm suddenly landed on his shoulders, and he looked up to see Bucky standing over him, softly draping a blanket over his back.

“Didn’t know you could speak,” Bucky muttered, clearly taken aback. He looked terribly unsure of what to do, clenching and unclenching his hands over and over again. “Didn’t know you could grow legs either, for that matter. Why didn’t you do this earlier, then?”

Tony grabbed the blanket and defensively tightened it around himself. He glared at the two men. “I’m more vulnerable in this form. I didn’t want to shift in front of you, just in case you tried to attack me.”

Steve winced at that, probably still feeling guilty for trying to stab Tony. “Makes sense,” he admitted. “Still, you decided to change now?”

“You can’t leave this cave without me,” Tony replied, squinting at him. “You’d only hurt yourselves if you killed me.”

He winced when he realized how defensive that made him sound. Like he was trying to convince them not to kill him, instead of explaining why he trusted them.

Shifting always made him feel scared and powerless, only able to stay safe by sheer luck. He ignored it, staggering to his feet and wobbling dangerously as he stood. Two sets of strong arms immediately moved to hold him up, and he felt his skin flush all the way up to his hairline.

“My name is Tony, by the way,” he muttered, embarrassed. Considering how excited he’d been at the idea of talking to these humans, actually finding something to say was harder than expected.

“It’s- it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tony,” Steve said, clearly feeling just as lost as Tony himself. That made him feel slightly better, weirdly enough.

Bucky was still staring at him in a weird mix of fascination and disbelief, and Tony suddenly felt embarrassed again; he’d never shifted in front of anyone before.

“I’m sorry if I freaked you out,” Tony said, hoping that explaining himself might make them more comfortable. “I just got tired of not being able to… you know… _speak_.” He trailed off, not quite knowing how to explain the impulse which had come over him.

“Hey, we’re not complaining,” Steve replied, smiling easily. “It was just unexpected.”

“Yeah,” Bucky echoed, gently squeezing Tony’s arm again through the blanket before stepping back slightly.

Tony wobbled a bit, but managed to stay on his feet. When he tried to take a step towards his nest, though, his knees gave out and he crumpled onto the floor, only saved from face-planting on the ground by Steve’s quick reflexes.

“Careful!” Bucky exclaimed, quickly kneeling down to make sure he was okay.

Steve bent down as well, looking Tony in the eye. “Do you need help to reach the bed?”

“What’s a bed?” Tony asked, without thinking. Then, catching the direction of Steve’s gaze, he realized, “Oh! You mean my nest? Yes, please.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Alright then, up you go.”

“What do y- _oh!_” Tony couldn’t stop the undignified squeak that slipped through his lips when Steve got his arms around Tony’s shoulders and knees, and _lifted him off the ground_.

Tony found himself suspended in the air, clutching at his blanket as Steve carried him to his nest.

“I could have walked!” he protested, embarrassed. It felt undignified, for some reason, to be carried around by the human. It also felt inexplicably nice, in a way that made Tony’s stomach tighten at the thought of those strong arms lifting him up.

“You could barely stand,” Steve pointed out, gently placing Tony on the soft nest. He laughed when Tony swatted his hands away, raising them in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright, sorry for carrying you to bed like a gal, Tony.”

“What’s a gal?”

“It’s, uh…” Steve scratched at his neck, pursing his lips in thought. “It’s another name for woman, I guess. A female human.”

“Are women unable to walk? I’ve never seen one before.” Tony peered up at Steve in fascination, trying to imagine what a woman would look like. He knew that they looked like mermaids from the waist up, but he didn’t really know how big their legs would be. Bucky’s thighs seemed way too big to fit on the bottom half of a mermaid, and so did Steve’s. Maybe women had no legs?

“What? No, no, they can walk, it’s just a figure of speech, I guess. Well, not really, it’s more like… a stereotype?” Steve huffed, clearly flustered by his inability to explain. “Guys like to sweep the ladies off their feet. It’s romantic, I guess.”

Bucky snorted and opened his mouth as if to reply, catching Tony’s attention. There was a playful, predatory glint in his eye, and Tony knew he was about to make some sort of unnecessarily lewd remark just by looking at him. _That_ would completely derail Tony’s thoughts and bring them into dangerous territory, so he quickly interjected with, “So, can male humans not be carried by others? I didn’t know humans had so much sexual dimorphism.”

Both Steve and Bucky stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds, standing over him like two freakishly shaped statues, and Tony started to sweat under their scrutiny. He felt like he maybe shouldn’t have asked that question. He knew people found his scientific curiosity stupid, ridiculous… unattractive. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut.

“I literally have no idea what you just said,” Bucky finally admitted, sitting down next to him and huffing out a laugh. “But men can be picked up too. They’re just heavier, and, well… not everyone would be okay with two guys doing that sort of stuff.”

Tony frowned, confused – but relieved, at least, that he wasn’t being laughed at. “I don’t understand.”

Steve sighed. “It’s illegal for two men to be together. Romantically.”

“That seems like a stupid idea.”

“Yeah, well,” Bucky shrugged. “What can you do about it?”

“Is it different, for you merpeople?” Steve asked.

Tony nodded. “I don’t see why gender would matter outside of procreation. Some mers can change sex, and some species are sexually incompatible, but there are no laws to dictate who can mate with whom.” A thought suddenly crossed his mind. He cocked his head, looking between Steve and Bucky, and asked, “So, you two aren’t mates?”

Steve spluttered, caught off guard, then sighed and hid his face in his hands. Tony glanced at him in confusion, but got distracted by Bucky’s infectious laughter. It was a really pleasing sound, and Tony immediately wanted to hear it again. Happiness looked good on humans, he decided – their smiles were full of ugly and not-sharp-enough teeth, but they still made them look vibrant. Innocent. Tony quite liked it.

“We are mates, in a sense,” Bucky explained, amused. “But our relationship isn’t socially acceptable. We’re criminals for loving each other. But, I mean, we’re also pirates. Why stop at one sin, if the gallows are waiting for you no matter what?”

“_Bucky_,” Steve sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if asking some higher power to grant him strength. “Stop talking about our relationship like that.”

“Alright, alright,” Bucky huffed, grinning. “But hey, Tony asked.”

Tony nodded. “Humans are fascinating. You make absolutely no sense to me... in a _good _way, like the type of mystery you’re just itching to solve, if that makes sense.” Then, somewhat wistfully, he added, “I’m glad you guys have each other. Your mating seems to be a happy one.”

Steve smiled at that, a soft little thing that made him look far younger than Tony thought he was. “It is, yeah. What about you? Do you have a mate, Tony?”

“No,” Tony replied, a bit ruefully. “I’ve never known many of my own kind. Most mers are solitary, and I’m a bit of a social reject anyways... but I do have a couple of friends. I was thinking about mating with my best friend Rhodey a while ago, but we weren’t sure, and then he met his current mate Carol, and… I mean, I’m happy for him. I just miss him, sometimes.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” Steve said. “But I’m sure you’ll meet someone. You seem like a great person. Or, well, merperson, I guess.”

“And you look great, too,” Bucky added with a wink. “You’re just about the prettiest merman I’ve ever seen.”

Tony snorted. “I’m the _only_ one you’ve seen, aren’t I.”

“Yes,” Bucky admitted, laughing, “but I'm sure you’d still win that contest.”

“Should I feel jealous, or what?” Steve asked, but his tone was playful. Tony grinned at him, unrepentant.

Bucky leaned over to peck Steve on the lips. “Never, you punk.”

“Jerk.”

Tony cocked his head to the side, watching them curiously. When neither of them seemed affected by the kiss, he started to wonder. “Was that a mating ritual?” he asked, unsure of what he’d just witnessed. 

Kissing someone was dangerous. A mermaid’s kiss held a lot of power, even when given to another mer. When given to humans, it could render them unconscious, or give them the ability to breathe underwater, or make them lose their reason. Among mers, it was often used as a way to seal a spell, or share powers with one’s mate, but it was not something done lightly.

Steve and Bucky shared a glance.

“What, the kiss?” Bucky asked. “Do you not… kiss people?”

“Our kiss holds power. It’s dangerous. Do humans just… kiss each other? For fun?”

“Well, yeah,” Steve said, a bit baffled. Then it seemed to dawn on him. “Is that how you knocked us out, earlier? With a kiss?”

Tony nodded. “It was the fastest way to get you down here safely. It’s not like I could talk you into following me. Plus, it saved you from drowning.”

“Fair enough,” Bucky said, shrugging and easily accepting what Tony said. “Thanks again for that, by the way.”

Tony waved him off. “It’s not like I could let you both to die. What were you guys doing on that boat, anyways?”

Bucky winced, and Steve grimaced as well. Tony immediately felt bad for asking.

“We got caught in a storm, right after getting out of a naval battle,” Steve explained, a grim expression clouding his face. “The ship’s hull was damaged in the fight, and the waves were too strong... the ship cracked right open. We barely managed to jump on the rowboat before the entire thing sank, but we have no idea if anyone in our crew managed to get out alive.”

Tony hummed, instinctively curling closer to him to offer some sort of support. “I heard rumors of a sunken ship, that’s why I was out exploring. Didn’t find anything, though, just some wood on the surface. And you two, I guess. Your crew could still be alive.”

“Hope is a dangerous thing,” Bucky commented. His gaze was far away, and the bags under his eyes seemed darker, more pronounced than they’d been just minutes before. “I’ll believe they made it out when I see them with my own two eyes.”

“I wish you luck, then,” Tony whispered, reeling a bit from the sudden shift in the atmosphere. “Were they your friends? I thought pirates were supposed to be ruthless, not... friendly.”

“You’re not wrong,” Bucky conceded with a strained smile. “Our crew’s just a bit different.”

Tony made an inquisitive noise, and Steve interjected to explain. “We were in the Royal Navy, our entire crew. I mutinied when I found out that one of our ships was carrying slaves. Men, women, children. A few exotic animals.” He glanced at Tony, a bit uncomfortable, then added, “A nymph, and a gryphon. A mermaid, but she was…”

He trailed off, shaking his head, and Tony felt sick.

“We think they tried to torture her, to get her tears,” Bucky added, a dark look in his eyes. “I sliced through the bastard who did it with my own sword.”

Steve nodded. “I wasn’t about to stand by and watch as the Navy enslaved a bunch of creatures right under my nose. So, I turned against them, and slaughtered the entire ship, with my crew helping me. We all got charged with mutiny.” Steve grinned, looking smug and a little bit dangerous. “And when the Commodore tried to threaten us, we fought him too, together with his band of greedy, slimy assholes.” He shrugged, but the expression on his face was anything but dismissive. “And that’s how we became pirates.”

Tony nodded, swallowing down the tide of emotions crashing over him. These two men were nothing like he’d expected, and the more he discovered about them, the more he found himself helplessly drawn to them. He would’ve been worried that he’d been put under a spell, if humans had magic, but maybe these two were just a couple of exceedingly fascinating specimen.

“That was brave of you,” he said, trying not to let his emotions show. “I don’t think many others would have done the same.”

Steve shrugged. “It was the right thing to do. The law isn’t always just, unfortunately, and I don’t like bullies. They got what was coming for them.”

Tony nodded, blinking rapidly as his entire view of Steve’s character shifted. This man had stabbed him not more than four hours ago, yet now Tony felt as though he could trust him with his life. 

_Fuck,_ he thought, _I’ve got it bad._

He was about to say something else – he didn’t know what, just _anything _that would change the subject – when Bucky yawned loudly enough to startle both Steve and Tony.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Bucky said, sheepish. “I haven’t slept since before we wrecked. I was keeping guard on the boat.”

“Let’s go to sleep, then,” Tony agreed, grateful for the distraction. He didn’t like the swirl of emotions currently fluttering in his chest. It felt like too much, too soon.

Steve nodded, yawning as well, and crawled towards Bucky. The two of them cuddled close together, draping the big sail on top of their bodies. Tony blinked at them from the side.

“Can I sleep here, too?” he asked, suddenly, inexplicably shy.

Bucky looked at him like he was crazy. “It’s… this is your nest, Tony.”

“I know, but you’re in here.”

“We don’t mind,” Steve cut in, blinking at him with sleepy eyes. “Just lay down, Tony.”

“Alright.”

He settled down as well, snuggling under his own blanket. The cave was cold, but his body always seemed to put out enough heat to make him feel comfortable. Plus, the slow, rhythmic sound of the two men’s breathing was like a lullaby to Tony; he’d missed sleeping beside someone else, and the sense of security that came with it. It felt good not to be alone.

With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

***

The next morning, the storm had finally settled.

Tony swam up to check on the weather as soon as he woke up, hoping to spot the tiny rowboat still floating around. Predictably enough, it was nowhere to be found. There were a few planks of wood scattered around, though, either from the boat or the original shipwreck, so he grabbed them and tied them together with some rope he found.

The makeshift raft was a disgrace to its name, barely stable enough to stay afloat as it was, but it worked well enough as something that Steve and Bucky could hold on to while Tony pushed them towards shore.

The beach he left them on was calm and secluded; Tony wasn’t keen on getting caught, and even from their hidden spot they could still hear the faint noise of voices, coming from the docks over on the other side of the island.

Bucky knelt next to him in the shallow water, smiling warmly and playfully running a hand through Tony’s wet curls. “Thank you for everything, Tony. How can we ever repay you?”

Tony huffed and shook his head, waving Bucky’s thanks away and smiling back at him. He hadn’t saved them to get a reward, and he didn’t much care for human currency. The chance of getting to know two humans so closely was payment enough.

Plus, they were quite… lovely to look at. He would remember them vividly, he could already tell, for years to come. Especially the sight of them wrapped in each other’s arms, both of them lost to sleep, warm and safe and comfortable inside Tony’s nest. _His_. His chest swelled with possessive pride at the memory, and he couldn’t help the smug little curve of his mouth.

Steve knelt down too, grinning at the two of them. “Well, I don’t think you’ll have much use for money, and we need what little we have left to buy a new boat, but I think I’ve got something to give you.”

With that, he removed his necklace, slipping it over Tony’s head and kissing his cheek.

Tony felt himself flush, and he quickly lowered his eyes, grabbing the chain in his hands and turning its charm around his fingers with curiosity.

“It’s black obsidian,” Steve explained. “A piece of volcanic rock. They say it gives protection to those who wear it – and I say it works, because it brought you to us, to save us from that storm.”

Tony smiled at him, touched by the gesture. He hadn’t expected gratitude for helping the two humans, and getting a lovely and meaningful trinket as a gift was making him emotional. Really, these two men were just impossible to resist.

Bucky huffed and shouldered his way past Steve, grinning at Tony too.

“Well, I haven’t got much jewelry on me, but I do have something for you,” he said, reaching for something strapped to his side. He showed it to Tony with a flourish, handing it over with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “It’s a persian dagger. It might not be a cute necklace, but it’ll surely give you more protection than a piece of rock ever will.”

Steve snorted and flicked Bucky’s ear. “Jerk.”

Bucky didn’t bother replying to him, too busy looking at Tony with hopeful eyes. Tony gingerly took the knife, curious to see why Bucky felt it was special. The hilt was engraved, a gorgeous geometric pattern curling around the metal, and the blade was so sharp it cut Tony’s finger as soon as he touched it.

Tony smiled up at Bucky, trying to convey his appreciation even without words, and hummed happily. Bucky smiled and kissed him on the forehead.

“Thank you again for saving our lives,” he whispered, and Steve echoed him.

Tony nodded, blushing slightly, and hesitantly bit his lip. He held up a finger, silently asking the two men to wait, before quickly jumping underwater. He took out Bucky’s dagger, turning it in his hands a few times before bending down to examine his own tail. He finally found something that could work – a scale big enough that it would be hard for the two men to lose it, about the size of a sand dollar – and carefully lifted it with the knife.

It came off easily enough, barely with any pain, and Tony grabbed it before racing up out of the water again.

He emerged with a grin, showing what he was holding to Steve and Bucky.

“Is that one of your scales?” Steve asked, peering at the golden flake.

Tony nodded, then closed his hands around it, leaving just a bit of space between his thumbs. Placing his mouth there, he channeled all of his power in his chest, and then softly blew it out into the scale.

When he opened his hands, the golden flake was glowing softly, just a hint of electric blue, and successfully infused with his energy. He grinned, and gently placed it in Steve’s hand.

“What does this-” Steve trailed off when the scale began to move, slowly sliding towards Tony. The merman grinned again.

“Tony, is this… is this a compass pointing to you?”

Tony nodded, smiling at Bucky, and chirped softly. _To find me again,_ he wanted to say, but he thought his gesture conveyed the message just as well as words would.

“I’m... this is incredible,” Steve said, slightly teary-eyed. He leaned down to place another kiss on Tony’s forehead. “You have my word, Tony, that we’ll find you again, one day. I promise.”

Tony closed his eyes, suddenly feeling his eyes swell up with tears. That was dangerous, to cry in front of a human. Mermaid’s tears were a gift of immortality.

He opened his eyes again, thankfully without crying, and smiled at them. It was wobbly, he could tell, but Bucky and Steve weren’t faring much better themselves.

Softly, reverently, Tony brought his own hand up to his lips, gently kissing his fingertips, and then moved them towards Steve’s mouth, pressing them to his lips.

He did the same thing once more, this time moving his hand to Bucky’s lips. They trembled under his touch, and Tony felt his heart clench. These men had known him for a day, and they’d already stolen his heart.

“Thank you,” Bucky whispered as soon as Tony took his hand back. Steve was touching his own lips, wide-eyed wonder clear on his face.

Tony smiled one last time, nodding at the two men, and then turned his back to them, jumping in the water and swimming away, clutching his new gifts close to his chest, and letting the tears fall. He could already feel his token pulling at his soul, a connection that would never be severed, and it felt like a promise. It felt like hope.

On the shore, Steve shakily got to his feet, helping Bucky up when his lover stumbled. They were both trembling, but their hearts felt like they were ready to explode.

“Stevie,” Bucky said, his voice barely more than a whisper, “I know what to call our next ship.”

“Yeah?” Steve hummed.

Bucky looked up at him, smiling. “We’ll call it, _The Mermaid’s Kiss_. Because it’ll save us from drowning.”

Steve mouthed the words, testing how they felt in his mouth. He smiled, too. “Yes, okay. I like it.”

He whispered it again, glancing down at the golden scale resting in the palm of his hand. That, too, felt like a promise.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my remix of LadyUkkey's fic for the [Stuckony Discord Server](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n) remix event. I had a bit of a hard time writing this, not gonna lie... but I tried my best :) I hope you like it!
> 
> [@Kocuria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kocuria) made the lovely moodboard for this fic, leave her some kudos over [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20301073/chapters/48585242)!  
Many, many thanks to [@Juulna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juulna) for being an awesome beta. Seriously, this fic would be a disaster without her.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr over [@lunaticalwriter](http://lunaticalwriter.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated. Thank you all for reading!


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